MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry

What exactly are the new Clever Kids games about? Targeted at the six-12 year age group, Clever Kids has the explicit aim of encouraging youngsters to learn through interaction and exploration of some of their favourite subjects. Through playing the games they will solve maths puzzles, complete jigsaws, develop observation …

Clearly from the developer (and publisher) point of view, the second- hand market is a real problem. This is not just an issue from the revenue point of view – there are other elements too. The shops are essentially defrauding the rest of the industry by this practice, whether they …

Marketing firm Peppermint M moves into studio representation

This weekend will see the launch of one of Sony Computer Entertainment America’s largest ever advertising campaigns as it looks to promote the upcoming revised 40GB PS3 model in the territory, Gamesindustry reports. The company’s growing PlayStation Network is to take a front role in the media push, as well …

Plans build for Australian game development event

Stanford University’s disease studying distributed computing project Folding@Home has won Sony’s PS3 a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by becoming the largest network of its kind anywhere in the world, Spong reports. For those not familiar with the project, Folding@Home is a programme that connects a user’s …

Though it’s yet to reach the Pokemon-like levels of hype once touted, Microsoft’s Viva Piata series continues to gain momentum and popularity, and it has been confirmed that the second instalment in the franchise, Party Animals, will hit European games retail on November 16th. Developed by Ty the Tasmanian Tiger …

Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has announced that all owners of an Xbox 360 and a broadband internet connection will be able to access the full-blooded Xbox Live Gold service free of charge on the weekend beginning November 23rd. In addition, Microsoft is lining up a number of online events …

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has predicted that video games’ pricing model will be forced to change in the next decade – and said that EA may be one of the first to experiment. Speaking to Berkley Haas School of Business, Riccitiello said the standard next-gen software price of $59.99/49.99 …

Next-Gen reports that Infogrames publisher Atari could be facing the possibility of losing the highly lucrative Dragon Ball Z franchise, following a disagreement with licensor FUNimation. However, MCV understands that Atari’s right to publish the games in Central Europe will remain unaffected, regardless of the US outcome. The publisher licenses …